The present invention relates to an image pickingup and processing apparatus and, more particularly, relates to an image picking-up and processing apparatus suitable for dental treatment, diagnosis and the like.
Heretofore, as an oral cavity observing apparatus for use in dental treatment for bad teeth, periodontal diseases and the like, there known is an apparatus of the type which includes a video camera, a television set connected to the video camera, and an illumination light guide attached to the outside of the video camera to guide light to thereby illuminate an object to be observed, so that an image picked up by the video camera is observed through the television set. Just an oral cavity and the external appearance of teeth can be observed by the apparatus of this type. In other words, nothing but information of teeth visible from the outside can be recorded or observed by the apparatus of this type. Therefore, there has been proposed an apparatus in which an endoscope is attached to a front end of the video camera of the above-mentioned apparatus to make it possible to record or observe the inside of a root canal (e.g., Japanese Utility Model Application Unexamined Publication No. 190518/1986).
The aforementioned conventional apparatus cannot observe both the inside of an oral cavity and the inside of a root canal. This is due to the following reasons. In order to make a root canal endoscope also act as an oral cavity endoscope a plurality of lenses are required, because the root canal endoscope and the oral cavity endoscope are different in the focal length of an objective lens for focusing an object image on the image sensor. In the case where these lenses and mechanisms for adjusting their optical axes and focuses are incorporated in the endoscope, the size of the endoscope is increased and the handling property is deteriorated. Furthermore, the observation of the inside of a root canal and the observation of the inside of an oral cavity are extremely different in the required illuminance because an oral cavity is very wider than a root canal. If the illumination for observation of a root canal is used for observation of an oral cavity, the obtained image is deteriorated because of the shortage of illuminance. If the illumination for observation of an oral cavity is used for observation of a root canal, the obtained image is also deteriorated because of the excess of illuminance.
However, both observations of the inside of an oral cavity and the inside of a root canal are necessary for suitable progression of dental treatment. For this reason, it was necessary for dentists to buy a plurality of apparatuses, necessitating a large fund.
Further, in the conventional observing apparatus, the image of the inside of an oral cavity or root canal can be merely observed or recorded, and it is impossible to observe detailed parts and to campare at a glance the changes in diseased parts.